News items on Mealy/O'Malley of Tulla Parish

[Sduddy]

Fr. Hugh Quigly is mentioned in this thread, with a link to a short biography: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... uigley.htm

That piece does not mention that he is credited with having contributed funds for the building of Knockjames school (the old buiding, long gone): http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... /index.htm

Knockjames is in the townland of Affick/Afflick where Hugh Quigly was born.

Sheila

[Jimbo]

"Isn't it amazing that young William b. 1833 managed to get all the way to Sacramento", when his American born son and namesake couldn't make it down a flight of stairs. To be fair to the Irish-American Maley's, had they been living in Tulla there would have been no trains and doubtful many staircases to circumnavigate. Alcohol was involved in William Maley, Jr.'s fall in 1909, of course. The rival Sacramento Bee newspaper wasn't as respectful as the Sacramento Union article. When you read about tragic accidents like this you can somewhat appreciate why the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was approved a decade later in January 1920.

Regarding Father Hugh Quigley, I highly recommend his informative "The Irish Race in California and the Pacific Coast". I learned that it was the Irish who discovered and colonized America at an early age - not later than the 7th century as told in the Scandinavian accounts. Also, Johannes Galviensis (John Galvin) from County Galway was one of two Irishmen on the crew listing of the "Santa Maria" with Christopher Columbus back in 1492. Since written over 100 years ago in 1878, it is available on the below link from google books for all to enjoy:

https://tinyurl.com/The-Irish-Race-in-CA

Sheila, regarding whether William Perrill was related to the Perrill sisters of Sacramento, after further consideration you might be right about a connection. George Maley's obituary left out several cousins who were still around in 1930 (siblings of Mrs. Trengrove), so the fact that the surviving children of William Perrill were omitted as cousins proves nothing . Below is the obituary for Mrs. Delia Perrill who died in Sacramento in 1925. She had a total of six children; three died prior to the mother. The death record for the daughter Mrs. Mary Carmody in 1951 reported her mother's maiden name as Hynes - which is not an uncommon name in County Clare. The William Perrill family of Sacramento also had a son named Frank as did both the Perrill sisters (Frank Daroux and Frank Maley). Coincidentally, in 1895 their youngest son Frank Perrill died at only 11 years about the same age as Frank Maley in 1888. And not sure of the significance, but there is a Frank Pearl born in Ireland in 1838 living in San Francisco in the 1880 census who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1874.

The obituary for William Perrill (senior) who died on 28 September 1890, had the comment for San Francisco and Bangor (Maine) newspapers to please copy. At first I thought this meant that William Perrill had once lived in Bangor, but perhaps it means that he has a relative living there and the Perrill family wants them to be notified. William Perrill first appears in Sacramento in October 1872 when he became a U.S naturalized citizen. The Perrill surname is not common in U.S. records, I believe he is the same "William Perell", age 28 (born 1842), who arrived in New York on the Idaho on 4 April 1870.

So I reckon that William Perrill of Sacramento could indeed be the brother to Ellen Perrill Maley and Bridget Perrill Daroux, and if not, perhaps a cousin.

[Sduddy]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the link to Fr. Quigley’s book on the Irish in California.

The obituary for Delia Pearl is a good find – especially in that it led you to the discovery that her maiden name was Hynes. She could be the Bridget Hynes, daughter of Michael Hynes, who was baptised in Tulla in 1842. That’s just a very slight possibility of course, but I do think the name brings the origins of her husband William a bit closer to Co. Clare. Hynes is a very South Galway name (an important clan there – with coat of arms etc.), which spread into Co. Clare. The most famous Hynes of all is Mary Hynes, or Maire Ni hEidhin, about whom the blind poet Anthony Raftery wrote a poem/song in the early 19th century: http://old.tg4.ie/en/programmes/archive ... idhin.html . Her legendary beauty was still spoken of around Kiltartan a hundred years later and greatly fascinated the poet W.B. Yeats
A little digression here to show how the officials entering records in ships’ manifests sometimes picked up Irish placenames wrongly: Charles Olson, one of the Black Mountain poets, wrote a piece about an early memory of his grandfather, which is including in Collected Prose: Charles Olson, (eds.), Donald Allen and Benjamin Friedlander, University of California Press, 1997. Olsen’s poetry is much too difficult for me, but a friend, knowing my interest in genealogy, showed me the piece (I didn’t note the page). Olson remembered his mother’s father, Hines, an Irishman, who worked as a shoveler, coming home after work and going into the yard where he would lie down and roll around (just as a horse does when he is untackled at the end of a long day between the shafts). Olson wanted to know more about this man, but always thought he came from Cork – that being the placename in the ship’s manifest. In the end I think somebody told him that “Cork” was probably Gort in South Galway: https://books.google.ie/books?id=eGwzzm ... es&f=false.

So, whether William Pearl was a brother of of Ellen Maley Pearl, or not, I suppose we will never know for certain, but I think his wife’s name, Delia Hynes, makes it a fraction more likely. Did a group of emigrants travel together? And was Frank Pearl among them too?

Sheila

[Sduddy]

After those digressions yesterday (it was the name Hynes that did it ), I am back on track today. And I think now that when more of the images of civil records become viewable online we will find out if William Perrill/Pearl in Sacramento is indeed a brother of Patrick and John at home in Turkenagh Mountain (Moynoe parish). Both Patrick and John married in 1868, and William did not emigrate until 1870, so it is very likely that he will appear as a witness at one or other of those marriages.

The Michael Malley (see first posting by smcarberry), who was sentenced to penal servitude in 1882, and for whose wife and young family a fund was being raised, must be the same Michael as the one in Paddy Casey’s posting of 2008: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=230. Paddy Casey found this report in The Birmingham Daily Post of Wed. Nov. 22, 1882. There may be a fuller account in the Clare Journal around that time, but I doubt that there will be much more information on the identity of Michael Malley. I made a small attempt at finding him, but failed, and I’ve decided to treat that newspaper item as just an illustration of the times that were in it.

Two leaders of the subscription fund (in New York) are Michael O’Connell Kearney of Bryan’s Castle, and Bryan Clune of Carahan. Carahan is in the parish of Clooney; O’Briens Castle is in the parish of Inchicronan (Crusheen) just inside the border with Clooney. Not far away lies the townland of Rylane where a Malley family lived for some time in the middle of the 19th century. I wondered if Michael Malley had come from there and if he was known to both those men and to some of the subscribers, but I’ve decided that such was not the case.

The Quin-Clooney baptisms (1816 – 1855) show the baptisms of 4 children of Michael Maley and Anne Hawkins: Bridget b. 1834, Mary b. 1840, John b. 1843, Pat b. 1846. Because of the gap between Bridget and Mary, I thought there might also be a Michael (unrecorded) called after his father. The address is Knockaroe - a sub-division of the townland of Rylane. Griffith’s Valuation shows Anne Malley sharing plot 2 (132 acres) in Rylane with 7 others*. This shows that her husband Michael had died and she was now the tenant. The Quin-Clooney parish register shows the marriage of Bridget Mealy, Knockaroe, and Thady Murphy, Knockaroe, in 1854. Bridget must be the girl born to Michael and Anne in 1834. She and Thady Murphy had 6 children between 1854 and 1864. The 1901 census shows this Murphy family living in Rylane (Rathclooney DED) – Bridget is aged 60. But the important thing is that there are no Malleys in Rylane in 1901 – no Michael Malley and no Malleys who could be described as having been his children in 1882.

Michael O’Connell Kearney (above) was one of 11 children born to Brian Kearney/Carney and Honora O’Connell/Connell, who were living in the townland of Carahan in the parish of Clooney at the time of the baptisms of those children (1855 – 1871), but who sometime later moved to the townland of O’Briens Castle. The 1901 census shows the family living there.

I looked for records for the other leader of the subscription fund: William Fay (Fahy) of Feakle. I looked at the transcriptions of the registers for both Feakle parishes (there’s just one civil parish of Feakle, but there are 2 Catholic parishes: Caher-Feakle and Lower Feakle). And I noticed that the Caher-Feakle register shows the marriage, in 1843, of Michael Fahy from Gort and Margaret Mealy; witnesses Pat Mealy, Mary Mullin(?). This couple do not feature in the baptisms, however, so must have gone to live in Michael’s place in Gort. Looking for a Fahy/Fahey in Gort would be like looking for a needle in a haystack of needles, as John Grenham puts it, plus a William Fahy born in Gort could hardly be described as being from Feakle. I gave up at that point.

*Rylane is just 3 miles northwest of Tulla town, and could be described in a newspaper report as being in Tulla. One of the others sharing that plot in Rylane was Joseph O’Halloran of ‘From Praties to Paddymelons’, donated to clarelibrary: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... melons.pdf

Sheila

[Jimbo]

Thanks, Sheila. Anthony Rafter's poem/song "Maire Ni hEidhin" was nice to listen to, but of course I couldn't understand a word. I agree that the surname "Hynes" might be an important link to County Clare as immigrants frequently married within their same Irish county even in America.

Regarding ship manifests providing inaccurate place names, a very common mistake is having "Great Britain" as birth instead of "Ireland". This was the case for "William Perrell" born 1842 on the Idaho arriving in New York in 1870. The person writing the ship manifest didn't recognize that the United Kingdom (back then) was Great Britain and Ireland. Nearly the entire ship including the most Irish of surnames were reported as from Great Britain, with just a few from Unites States and a spattering of other countries. No passengers were born in Ireland. I never specify "Ireland" as birthplace when searching passenger listings on databases.

Your comment to determine if William Perrill is listed as a witness at the marriages of his brothers Patrick and John of Turkenagh in 1868 might prove interesting. But I'm starting to have a few doubts whether the "William Perrell" on the Idaho in 1870 is the same as "William Perrill" of Sacramento whose first record is the California voting register which states that he became a U.S. citizen on 11 October 1872. According to U.S. naturalization law of 1802, an alien (foreigner) had to declare their intent to become a U.S. citizen 3 years in advance; and there was a 5 year residency requirement. I wasn't able to find William Perrill's naturalization records to verify the voting register, but a Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of 12 October 1872 had a short "New Citizens" article: "the following persons were naturalized in the Sixth District Court yesterday: William Perrill, a native of Ireland, on the testimony of Michael McGrath and Dennis O'Keefe." So does the 5 year residency requirement necessarily mean that the William Perrell of 1870 couldn't be the William Perrill of 1872 in Sacramento?

The main benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen are that it allows you to run for public office and to vote. Were Tammany Hall style politics at play here, and William was able to obtain U.S. citizenship early (and perhaps a job) from the testimony of Michael McGrath and Dennis O'Keefe with the expectation that he would vote for their party candidates?

[Sduddy]

Hi Jim

Thanks for that helpful tip about entering country of birth (or rather Not entering it) when searching for records in the US, and for explaining the process of Naturalization.

You have doubts about finding William Pearl in those marriage records because of the time-factor in the Naturalization process. And I am now finding some Perills in the parish of Kilbeacanty in south Co. Galway. Grifftih’s Valuation shows a Patrick Parle and a William Parle in the townland of Inchaboy, South. They are leasing plot 1 (596 acres), along with with 24 others, from John Martyn.These Parles were probably cousins of William Perrill in Turkenagh Mountain. Kilbeacanty parish is on the border with Co. Clare. The townland of Inchaboy in Kilbeacanty adjoins the townland of Drumandoora in Co. Clare. The road from Gort to Dromandoora (R461) passes through Inchaboy. The same road will bring you eventually to Scarriff, skirting the lower end of Lough Greaney (mentioned in Raftery’s song) on the way.

The 1901 cenus shows a William Perrill in Inch Aboy (Ardimullivan DED) in Co. Galway, aged 79. He is probably the William listed in Griffith’s Valuation and it’s possible that William in Sacramento (aged 35 in 1880) is his son. Another Kilbeacanty townland which adjoins Drumandoora is the townland of Gortacornaun – the 1901 census Martin Hynes living in Gortacornane – Delia Hynes who married William Pearl in Sacramento may not have any connection whatsoever with that family of course.

The one thing that is making me stay with William being from Turkenagh Mountain Co. Clare, at this moment, are those names: Dennis O’Keeffe and Michael McGrath. Those names I would associate with Co. Clare – also Counties Cork, Tipperary and Limerick, but not with Co. Galway. Were the people who gave testimony usually known to the person applying for Naturalization?

Here is an extremely loose translation of that song, by James Stephens, Poet (1880 – 1850) – not to be confused with James Stephens, Fenian/I.R.B. (1825 – 1901). I suppose it’s more correct to say that it was inspired by the song, than call it a translation: https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/mary-hynes-0. I gather from googling that it inspired a choral work by Samuel Barber called ‘Mary Hynes’.

Sheila

[Jimbo]

Sheila, regarding your question: Were the people who gave testimony usually known to the person applying for Naturalization?

You must be accompanied by two witnesses at the time you apply for the Second Paper. The witnesses must be citizens of the United States, who have known you to be a resident of the United States from the last five years.

Note 1: If the witnesses are naturalized citizens they must bring their papers with them at the time of filing the petition.

Note 2: If the petitioner has not resided in the State for the last five years, he may establish by two witnesses the time of his residence in the State, provided it has been for the last year, and the remaining portion of his last five year's residence within the United States may be proved by the depositions of two witnesses who are citizens.

Source: Department of Americanization by George M. Lassell, 1920

So yes, Michael McGrath and Dennis O'Keefe would have known William Perrill for at least five years and had to be U.S. citizens. Often a family member would be used as a witness. But for William Perrill his brother-in-law William Maley who became a naturalized citizen on 6 October 1868 was living in Nevada in the early 1870's. And there is no evidence that his other brother-in-law Pierre Daroux had become a citizen. The Perrill sisters and Delia Hynes would automatically become U.S. citizens when (or if) their husbands became citizens.

Michael McGrath was required to bring his own naturalization papers when acting as a witness for William Perrill, but he had little opportunity to lose them. Michael McGrath, a native of Ireland, was made a U.S. citizen in Sacramento on 7 October 1872 on the testimony of R. Breen and J. Gorman. This is just 5 days prior to William Perrill. The two men appeared to live very parallel lives. The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper would start every new year issue on January 1st with a listing of every single marriage, birth and death which occurred in Sacramento during the prior year. From the 1 January 1872 issue (see below): William Perrill married Bridget Hynes on 12 May 1871; Michael McGrath married Ellen Fenton on 5 April 1871. The 1 January 1873 issue would include the 1872 births of a child for both couples.

Here is Michael McGrath (born 1847), his wife Ellen Fenton McGrath (born 1851), five children, and mother Nora McGrath (born 1800) living in Sacramento:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... Q-GYYB-37B

I suspect you are correct about the McGrath surname being from County Clare. There were quite a few about San Francisco during this time, and we know at least one Michael McGrath was from County Clare since he was the executive chairman of the 1913 summer picnic of the County Clare Association of California held just outside of San Francisco - see below article. Not sure about May Brannon their lead singer of Irish ballads being from County Clare though. And would May Brannon have sung the Irish ballad "Mary Hynes" or was that typically only sung by men? Sheila, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge on this ballad.

In conclusion, for both William Perrill and Michael McGrath to have received U.S. citizenship in October 1872, would theoretically mean that they had arrived in the United States by September 1867. Perhaps the two men got caught up in the Fenian Rising of 1867 and were forced to leave Ireland?

[Sduddy]

Hi Jim

Thank you again for the information on Naturalization. And for the names of the witnesses, R. Breen and J. Gorman, who gave testimony on behalf of Michael McGrath. Those names say Co. Clare (or Limerick, or Cork) to me - not Galway.

That beginning of year report on marriages, births and deaths in the Sacramento Daily Union is a real boon for genealogists in California – they have an easy life!

Michael McGrath was born abt. 1847 and William Pearl was born abt. 1845. As you say, in order to qualify for Naturalization in 1872, they would have to have immigrated in 1867, so both were about 20 years old when they went. If Turkenagh Mountain is where William lived, then getting to embarkation point must have been a feat in itself, but, at that age, he probably went with a spring in his step. Google maps allows me to go along the R461 from Peppers bar to Scarriff (on a lovely bright May morning), but does not let me take the road to the left that goes up into Turkenagh. It’s one of those narrow roads which form a walking route called the East Clare Way, but you can drive on them too of course.

I don’t know about Michael, but I would say that emigration was simply a necessity of life for William. The Fenian rising in 1867 happened mainly in the Dublin hills and was a complete failure, for various reasons, one of which was that the organization was riddled with spies, so the authorities knew more about the plans than the members themselves did. Here is what F.S.L. Lyons says: “Yet an attempt was made in the end. It was made on the night of the 5-6 March 1867, which, with the ill-luck that so often seemed to dog Irish rebellions, chanced to be a night of bitter cold and heavy snow. There was no coherent plan of operations, nor perhaps any policy other than the desperate hope that the insurgents might hold out long enough to be accorded belligerent rights by the USA and thus precipitate that long cherished Anglo-American war which had become embedded in Fenian mythology. Groups of brave, unorganized, miserably armed men turned out in Dublin, Cork, Tipperary and Limerick, and to a lesser extent, Clare, Waterford and Louth. In Dublin, going against the normal revolutionary grain, the insurgents moved out of the city, instead of striking from within. The police and troops were glad to let them go, rounding them up at leisure as they floundered in the snowdrifts of the Dublin hills. In the Dublin area it is possible that as many as two thousand men were involved in this hopeless endeavour, with perhaps twice that number in Cork, and some hundreds elsewhere.”

I enjoyed reading about the picnic in Sacarmento 1913. There seems to have been quite a bit of organization involved. Picnics are not such a popular event here – or maybe the same kind of thing goes under a different name - at about that time (1913) there was a similar kind of event here called “Aeriocht” – maybe that is the Irish word for picnic. These were organized by the new Sinn Fein clubs and seem to have been well organized too and got good write-ups in the Clare Champion. Maybe the idea came from the U.S. I am wondering what songs would have been sung by May Brannon. I will have to ask somebody. I’d say she sang lively songs for that event. I doubt that she would have sung Maire Ni hEidhin - plus that would have been mainly a Galway song – that was where Anthony Raftery* spent most of his life.

Sheila

*For anyone interested in Anthony Raftery: His most famous song is Anach Cuan, sung here in English by Dolly MacMahon, who was Dolly Furey from Ardrahan in Co. Galway - she would have heard it sung locally. It tells of a tragic drowning. The line “In their wedding clothes for their wake they robed them” is a beautiful translation of “Is gurbh e gleas a bposta a bhi a dtoramh”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bULfyxCVEvw

[Sduddy]

I’ve applied myself to the songs that May Brannan might have sung, and here are some suggestions – which I hope other people will correct as I may have included some songs that were written after 1913.

The 1798 rebellion was widely commemorated in 1898, as a result of which many of the songs about that rebellion were probably still popular in 1913: The Croppy Boy (this appeared on broadsides shortly after the rebellion); The Wind that Shakes the Barley, written by Robert Dwyer Joyce (1836-1883); The Rising of the Moon - to the air of The Wearing of the Green – the lyrics were written by John Keegan Casey about 1865; Young Roddy McCorley, written by Ethna Carbery (1866-1902): https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i ... -1.2890872.
Bold Robert Emmett, the Darling of Erin (1803 rebellion), which appeared on broadsides from around 1900, can be added to those. Also, She is far from the Land, written by Thomas Moore (1779 – 1852). He wrote many other songs including Let Erin Remember and The Meeting of the Waters. Thomas Moore’s songs were called melodies and were sung by John McCormack (tenor, 1884-1945) – Moore’s songs would give an air of respectability to any kind of gathering.
Then there are the well-known songs written by Thomas Davis, the Young Irelander (1815 - 1845): A Nation Once Again (more an anthem than a ballad, maybe), The West’s Asleep, Tone’s Grave (In Bodenstown Churchyard): http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... amahon.htm.
Then come the songs about the Fenians: Deep in Canadian Woods We Met, written by T.D. Sullivan (1827-1914): https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i ... ry-1.10914; My Old Fenian Gun: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... enihan.htm

I think May Brannan would have included some Percy French (1854 – 1920) songs for a bit of light relief. Among his many songs are The Mountains of Mourne, 1896, Are Ye Right There Michael (about the West Clare railway),1897, and Come back, Paddy Reilly, to Ballyjamesduff, 1912. Also The Darling Girl from Clare, but I don’t know when that was published. I’m sure May included some sentimental songs, ie. Danny Boy, the words of which were put to The Derry Air by Frederic Weatherly in 1910, The Moon Behind the Hill, by T. Brigham Bishop (1835 – 1915) and Come Back to Erin, Mavourneen, written by Charlotte Alington Pye Barnard in the 1860s: https://hundredyearslate.wordpress.com/ ... k-to-erin/

If May Brannan came from Clare, I’m sure she had some Clare songs. I doubt that The Fair of Spancil Hill was well known at that time – the story goes that the words were written by Michael Considine (1850 -1873) in California and sent to his nephew, John, but John seems to have kept the song to himself until about 1930. Maybe she sang Nora Daly, and Farewell to Miltown Malbay – these are among the songs written by Tomas O’Aodha (Thomas Hayes 1866 – 1935).

Finding out (by googling) when songs were written is one thing (I was surprised to find that The Bold Fenian Men was not written til 1916), but finding out the dates for the airs to which they were sung is quite another thing. Thomas Moore, I gather, borrowed old Irish airs, but I don’t know where the airs for the Thomas Davis songs came from, for instance. Some airs were used again and again.

May Brannan would not have used the old style of singing called “Sean Nos” (examples in the last two postings), which has a lot of what are called grace notes. Tom Munnelly, who collected songs for forty years (about 1965-2005), did not find many examples of this style of singing in Co. Clare: “In spite of its proximity to Galway and Connemara with its highly ornate sean-nos tradition, singing styles in Clare show little preference for pronounced ornamentation” (p. 323). There may be recordings, made in America, which show the singing style of the period around 1913, and, indeed, the songs that were sung, but there are no such recordings (which have survived) in Ireland. The earliest surviving recording of singing in Clare was made in 1930 and, when recording began, it was considered most urgent to preserve songs that were in the Irish language (fast disappearing), so songs in the English language were neglected somewhat. During his time as a collector, Tom Munnelly tried to make up for this.
*‘Tom Munnelly: Collected Essays and Lectures, 1990-2007’, Ed. Anne Clune, published by the Old Kilfarboy Society, Miltown Malbay Co. Clare, 2014. In his lecture given to the Merriman School, held in Lisdoonvarna, 1999, entitled “Narrative song in Clare", he says he collected more songs in Clare than in any other county (p. 319).

P.S. To learn a bit more, I am doing a re-read of ‘Flowing Tides: History and Memory in an Irish Soundscape’, by Gearoid O hAllmurain, Oxford University Press, 2016. It’s mostly about the music of Co. Clare, but I seem to remember that it includes singing too.

Sheila

[Sduddy]

Well, I was not far into Flowing Tides* when I came upon a short piece on Johnny Patterson (1840-1889) and I realized that I had forgotten all about him – a bad mistake. There’s a really good biographical note on him under People on clarelibrary.ie. http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... dshaw2.htm
He wrote The Stone outside Dan Murphy’s Door; The Garden where the Praties Grow (sung by the great John McCormack); A Mother’s Love is a Blessing; Good Bye Johnny Dear; The Hat My Father Wore; The Roving Irish Boy and many more.
His grave is in Tralee, Co. Kerry, where he died, and there’s a memorial stone for him in Feakle. I got up extra early today to atone for my omission of Johnny Patterson.

*As soon as I picked up Flowing Tides last evening, I saw a sticky note coming up from the beginning of Chapter 5 saying, “my favourite chapter” and an X at the end of p. 168 where there’s story about the Tulla Ceili Band going to Dublin in 1946, and the haughty reception they received. The book is too scholarly for me in parts, but I’m okay with that – it must include scholarly comment if it is to be a really comprehensive history of the traditional music of Clare complete with background political history, social history, customs and folklore - plus comment on influences from outlside.

Sheila

[Jimbo]

Thank you for your continued effort on the likely songs at the picnic. But Sheila if you list 100 Irish ballads, surely one is bound to be accurate! And how could you possibly forget "Ireland, I Love You Acushla Machree"? Composed by Raymond A. Browne in 1900 and sung by Winifred Walsh on this recording on the Clare Library site:

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... wwalsh.htm

I did some more digging through the California newspaper archive for a follow-up article on what was sung during the picnic on 27th July 1913. Unfortunately, all the San Francisco papers only reported upon the male performers. In particular of William O'Dwyer, a recent arrival from the County Clare, who showed "his fellow countrymen some of the very latest steps that were all the rage in the Emerald Isle." But an article in the San Francisco Examiner of 25 July 1913 had one very important fact that the singer of Irish ballads was not "May Brannan", but in fact "May Brosnan". There are two theories for the error in the San Francisco Call newspaper: (1) a simple typo or (2) the Brosnan surname was too much of a County Kerry surname for a County Clare picnic. And May Brosnan had hardly "recently left the Green Isle to make her home in California." The photo of the newly arrived immigrant too shy to look into the camera appears to have all been a clever marketing ploy to get single men in search of a sweetheart to attend the picnic.

In March 1912, May Brosnan performed two songs ("Let Erin Remember the Days of Old" and "Ireland, I Love You") for the Knights of the Red Branch at their event commemorating the birth of Robert Emmet. The fraternal Knights of the Red Branch and their hall at 1133 Mission Street appear to have been the center of Irish cultural life in San Francisco. Even during prohibition, their fully stocked bar never stopped serving alcohol and was a favorite of many an Irish politician and policeman. Compared to the County Clare picnic in 1913 the KRB crowd was likely more raucous, but the 1912 photo of May Brosnan (see below) conveys a strong confidence and ability to handle any audience.

The earliest performance at the Knights of the Red Branch Hall I could find for May Brosnan was in January 1911 at an "Irish dance and barn party" held by the Original Gaelic Dancing Club. Subsequently she was a frequent vocal soloist at the hall including in July 1911 for a benefit of an agricultural college in Drumgriffin, County Galway; and in April 1912 for a fundraiser for Killarney Cathedral in County Kerry. During this period she also had several performances at the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians where at their St Patrick's Day event she sang "Killarney" and "Where the River Shannon Flows".

The surname Brosnan with County Kerry roots was very common in San Francisco around 1910. There were about four or five May Brosnans, but most were American born and only one Irish born woman was of an appropriate age (born in 1890). The newspaper article for the County Clare picnic made so many mistakes, I even considered whether or not May Brosnan was born in America. But I found a second event which stated she was born in Ireland. And the preference for the Knights of the Red Branch would most likely be for an Irish born singer to add authenticity to their events. If May Brosnan was indeed born in Ireland, I'm fairly certain she married in San Francisco a boy from Doolin, County Clare by the name of James B. O'Connor. Perhaps they met at the County Clare Association of California Picnic in 1913?

And Sheila, I reckon picnics are more popular in California than Ireland due to the weather. There is a famous ballad by Albert Hammond called "It Never Rains in California":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqMEEvmfyQU

[Sduddy]

Hi Jim
Very good work - I doubt that your contribution on the subject of May Brosnan and her songs can be bettered – the newpaper item is a gem. I would say that her soprano style of singing was very “refined”. Indeed I do not think that ballads were ever belted out in the way that became fashionable in the sixties and seventies. As I remember it, they were still sung in the 1950s (often by women) in a melodious kind of way.

Sheila

[Sduddy]

I’ve transcribed the article on the Clare Association outing published in the San Francisco Call, 26 July 1913 so that the names can be found by doing a search.

County Clare Outing – Park to Echo Ballads – Gaelic Sports and Irish Songs to Live in Richmond Canyon.

The County Clare Association of California has completed arrangements to make the outing at Grand Canyon park in Richmond tomorrow a merry gathering, alive with memories of the old land and filled with Gaelic sport.
A feature of the entertainment will be the singing of Irish ballads by Miss May Brannan and Miss Frances Murphy, who recently left the green isle to make their home in California. There will be dancing also, the program including an exhibition of Irish, Scotch and American steps. After the vaudeville specialties an athletic meet will be held, participated in by the young and old.
Special cars on the East Shore and Suburban electric line will meet Key Route trains at Fortieth street and San Pablo avenue, Oakland, to convey the picnickers direct to the park. Special ferry boats will leave the Key Route pier at 11 o’clock noon and 12:40 p.m.
The Committee in charge of the outing follow:
Executive – Michael McGrath (chairman), Frank Kane, Michael J. Liddy, P. Downes, Thomas McInerny, David Maloney, Michael White, John P. McInerney.
Gaelic dancing – Thomas Harrison, Michael McGrath, Frank Kean and William O’Dwyer.
Games – Patrick Downes (chairman), Patrick Purcell and Richard Barry.
Dancing – Michael White, floor manager; James O’Connor and Michael McInerney, assistants.
Reception – Thomas Harrison (chairman), Daniel O’Connell, Frank J. Kierce, Thomas McInerney, Daniel J. Ryan, Michael O’Dea and Thomas Donohoe.
Valuable prizes will be distributed at the gate.

Sheila

[Sduddy]

Re smcarberry’s attachment (first posting in this thread) on Michael Malley of Tulla:

I’ve transcribed here below the article on the list of subscribers to the fund for Michael Malley’s family, as published in that New York newspaper of 1882, so that the names can be found by doing a search:

At the Cork Winter Assizes of 1882, Michael Malley, of Tulla, county Clare, was put on trial charged with firing into a house. At the time the new Crimes Act was in beautiful working order, and special juries to convict on any evidence abounded. Mr. Malley had a special jury, and was of course convicted and sentenced to a long term of penal servitude, though it was proved at the trial that he could not possibly have been at the scene of the shooting at the time it was alleged to have taken place, being then many miles distant. However such a trifling circumstance did not deter the special jury from bringing in a verdict of guilty in the cause of law and order.
Mr. Malley has a young family who have been subjected to a very great privation through the taking away of their breadwinner, and a subscription for their relief was inaugurated by a few Nationalists in their neighbourhood. Having made an appeal to their friends in this country, subscriptions have been collected by the following gentlemen: Mr. Michael O’Connell Kearney, of Peekskill, N.Y., late of Bryan’s Castle, Crusheen, county Clare, who has acted as treasurer of the fund; Mr. Wm. Fay, of Brooklyn, formerly of Feakle, county Clare; and Mr. Bryan Clune, of Brooklyn, late of Carrahan, county Clare.
The following is the list of subscribers’ names and the amounts subscribed: Matthew Clune, Dangan ($3.00); Michael Clune, Clooney ($2.00); James Clune, Clooney ($1.00); John Clune, Clooney ($1.00); Michael Clune, Clooney ($1.00); Thomas Clune, Quin ($.00); Michael O’Connell Kearney, Bryan’s Castle ($2.00); Tim Hehir, Carrahan ($3.00); Thomas Halvey, Bryan’s Castle ($1.00); Patrick Meers, Dangan ($1.00); James Connelly, Dangan ($1.00); John Lynch, Dangan ($1.00); James Lynch, Dangan ($1.00); Daniel O’Keeffe, Carahan ($1.00); Michael O’Donohue, Carahan ($1.00); James Maguire, Kilmanahan, Meath ($1.00); Michael Grogan, Derrynahilla, Tulla ($1.00); John Torpey, Carrahan ($1.00); Cornelius McMahon, Tulla ($0.50); John Finerty, Tralee ($1.00); Patrick Kernan, Westmeath ($1.00); J. Touhy, Kilkishen ($1.00); Ed. O’Malley, Loughgraney ($1.00); William Fay, Feakle ($2.00); John Conway ($0.50); Patrick Rodden ($0.50); Michael Rourke ($1.00); Peter McOwen ($2.00); John Quinn ($0.50); Thomas Welsh ($0.50); Michael Corren ($0.50); John Waters ($0.50); James Rodden ($0.50); Thomas Gafney (($1.00); Edward Branigan ($1.00); Mrs. Flannery ($1.00); Mary McGrath ($1.00); Bridget Moroney ($0.50); Mary Moroney ($0.50); Katie Hannigan ($0.50); Bridget Hurley ($1.00); Mary Anne Hurley ($1.00); Mary Hurley ($1.00); John Mannix ($1.00); Daniel Fahey ($1.00); Martin McNernan ($0.50); William Doyle ($0.50); Dr. W. H. Perrin ($1.00); Capt. J. E. Sullivan ($1.00); William Halvey ($1.00); Robert Price ($0.50); William Price ($1.00); Michael Lyons ($1.00); Thomas Early ($0.50); James Cullinan ($1.00); John McNamara ($1.00); William McInerney ($2.00); James Cooney ($1.00); John Molony ($1.00); Daniel Hanrahan ($1.00); Thomas Murphy ($1.00); Michael McMahon ($1.00); Pat Butler ($1.00); James Daffey ($1.00); Patrick Quigley ($1.00); John McInerney ($1.00); Lot McInerney ($1.00); James O’Shea ($1.00); Jeremiah McNamara ($1.00); John Manogue ($2.50); Matthew Manogue ($2.50); James Liddy ($1.00); Thomas Hehir ($1.00); James Flannigan ($1.00); Daniel McNamara ($2.00); George Byrne ($2.00); Daniel Naughten ($1.00); James Cunneen ($1.00); Michael Lynch ($2.00); Thomas Donnellan (($1.00); Bryan Clune ($2.00). Total – ($90.50).

Sheila

[Jimbo]

Hi Sheila,

When you were transcribing the Clare Picnic article of 1913, did you notice that an assistant for the Dance Committee was James O'Connor, the future (by a good seven plus years) husband of May Brosnan? My screen prints might not make it clear that these articles have already been transcribed by the University of California at Riverside (also shared with Library of Congress "Chronicling of America" archive). And there is a text version for every article similar to Sharon's clipping on page one. So if you were to google "May Brosnan" and "soprano" it would take you directly to the CDNC archive. With your transcriptions it will now also take you directly to the Clare Past Forum for all the names you have listed which is even better.

There are a few family trees online that include May Brosnan O'Connor created by descendants or perhaps O'Connor cousins that have her incorrect parents back in Ireland and no information on her siblings or for that matter her singing at the Knights of the Red Branch Hall. It is easy to make mistakes though with the common Brosnan surname as I have just spotted one of my own. Mrs. May Brosnan O'Connor was born in Ireland around 1890 and according to the 1930 census report arrived in the U.S. in 1909. When I stated that there was only one May Brosnan in San Francisco of an appropriate age that was born in Ireland, I was referring to a domestic servant working for some very rich and influential families in both 1910 and 1920. Mary Brosnan born in 1890 and arrived in 1908 was working for the Tubbs household in 1910; and for John Ward Mailliard in 1920 (see below link) which included three generations of John Ward Mailliard. The Mailliard family of San Francisco has been especially prominent in both business and government for over a century:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... print=true

This would have made an interesting upstairs/downstairs story, but after some further research there were in fact two Mary Brosnans living in San Francisco both born in Ireland about 1890 who arrived 1908 / 1909. Although born in County Kerry, since she sang at the County Clare picnic I feel compelled to provide her accurate family ancestry here:

May Brosnan the vocal soloist at the 1912 fundraiser for Killarney Cathedral and who sang "Killarney" on St. Patrick's Day, is not too surprisingly from Killarney, County Kerry. She arrived age 20 in New York on 3 September 1909 on the RMS Lusitania. She was 5 foot 3 inches, fair complexion, auburn hair, with blue eyes. Her nearest relative back in Ireland was her father James Brosnan of New Street, Killarney. Here is the James Brosnan family of 26 New Street including 11 year old Mary Brosnan in the 1901 Irish census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... _/1414700/

Lusitania passenger list arriving in NY on 3 September 1909:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... print=true

Mary Brosnan's destination was San Francisco to her sister Mrs. W. O'Donohoe of 524 Connecticut Street. In the 1909 San Francisco City Directory, William Donohoe is a machinist living at 524 Connecticut Street. In the 1910 City Directory he has moved to 408 Mississippi Street where William Donahue (born in California, age 38) can be found in the 1910 federal census. Also listed are "May Brosham" (age 21) and "James J Brosham" (age 30) as lodgers, but who are most certainly the siblings of Mrs. Delia Donahue (age 38). In subsequent city directories, a May Brosnan living at 408 Mississippi would have the occupation of teacher (1912) and clerk (1918), but never appears to have been a domestic servant.

Her elder brother James J. Brosnan was an active member of the Knights of the Red Branch and no doubt influential in May being a vocal soloist at their many events. San Francisco during this era was home of "The Barbary Coast", the infamous red light district, where many a newly arrived Irish immigrant could fall into trouble of all sorts. So just as well that when May Brosnan arrived in 1909 she had two older siblings who had been living in San Francisco since 1892. When Delia Donohue died on 17 April 1936, her obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle stated "beloved wife of William Donohue, loving mother of Mary F. and Alice N. Donohue, daughter of Mrs. James Brosnan of Killarney, Ireland; sister of Mrs. James O'Connor and James Brosnan."

In looking at the two black & white photos of May Brosnan in the San Francisco newspapers, I would never have guessed she had red / auburn hair.